


Eyes Whirling Bright

by Merfilly



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - McCaffrey
Genre: Aliens Make Them Do It, F/M, Fuck Or Die, Telepathy, Yuletide, Yuletide 2009
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 14:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at the transition between Weyrs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eyes Whirling Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thistlerose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/gifts).



A beautiful day with inviting white sands and cooling waters called to Moreta as the sun rose high in Ista's skies. The day prior had seen Fall, and they were not scheduled to fly again for a few days. The press of her responsibilities weighed on her shoulders, though, reminding her that there was work still to be done.

Five severe injuries, two of them draconic, had kept her moving until well after Fall. Mirnath's lacing had been severe enough that F'gal had requested her to return to the Weyr ahead of the Fall's end.

_We will swim this evening,_ Orlith told her firmly. _Mirnath and Kranath need you, as does the green rider._

_Yes, L'ron does need a check in,_ Moreta agreed. _You are keeping an ear on Pinth?_

_Of course I am. She is a green and full of silly ideas, though._

_Poor Orlith,_ Moreta teased, but she gave her queen an affectionate pat on the shoulder. _You to your ledge, now that you've fed, and me to my duties._

_Of course._ The queen let Moreta get free of her space, then sprang upward, her wings stirring the dust by the feeding grounds, knowing she was watched by her rider, the other feeding dragons, and their riders.

_Show-off,_ Moreta called affectionately.

Orlith did not grace that with an answer, intent on the ledge above, the sun, and a nap for her full stomach to settle on.

`~`~`~`~`

Seeing all her patients on the mend had made Moreta feel better about herself. She did not often help with the human patients of the Weyr, but sometimes an injury was severe enough to make the weyrhealer want an extra pair of knowing hands and a mind to share ideas for treatment with. Seeing L'ron taking his injuries in good stride without the more histrionic take that some riders would have subjected her to was a welcome change. Once he had come conscious and taken over reassuring Pinth, Orlith had relaxed her own vigilance.

By late evening, with D'say drilling with his wing to prevent a repeat of some of the injuries, and everyone taken care of, Moreta was able to slip away with Orlith to the sandy beaches. The queen rider was glad to find an unoccupied cove for just the two of them, feeling a selfish need for solitary time. Orlith was in agreement, landing on the beach just long enough for Moreta to take off her leathers and undo the flying harness. A rumble of invitation had Moreta scrambling back up to a seat between ridges before Orlith waded out into the welcoming sea. When she was far enough out to float, wings spread wide, Moreta slipped free from Orlith's neck, swimming near her dragon's muzzle.

It was a peaceful feeling, her body's tensions melting under the soak of salty water, the dying sun still casting a warm glow along the water. The faint luminosity of blue-green eyes was more than enough to keep Moreta feeling safe.

_You tire,_ Orlith said some time later, once Moreta and finished swimming and scrubbed her scalp thoroughly in the salt water. She'd need a good rinse, but it left her feeling invigorated.

_You worry,_ came Moreta's response. However, she did push herself up over the neck as Orlith undulated to make it easier in the water, taking pleasure in the way her dragon swam toward shore, until the bottom was near enough for the golden beauty to walk again.

_You still need to scrub me down,_ was Orlith's response to that, making Moreta laugh out loud in their solitude.

_So I do._ She would, the brushes in the harness, and then they would go home so Moreta could rest with her weyrmate and let Orlith curl up with Kritith.

`~`~`~`~`

There was no sound any rider loathed more than the keen of their partners at the passing of one of their own. Moreta pushed up from laying in D'say's arms, face gone pale under her short-cropped hair. Both listened to their dragons, until they had been told that it was a queen, following her rider after the rider died.

"Fort," D'say said softly. "That leaves them quite light in queens."

"Someone will have to move from a Weyr." Moreta regretted both deaths, but the rider she knew had been ailing with a lingering, internal illness.

"Likely to be one of ours, given that we've been flying full," D'say said with a mind toward analysis of the situation.

"Wimmia will discuss it with the riders, no doubt." She pushed back down into his arms. He was a good partner to her, solid and unshakable, but sometimes she wished he knew how to look beyond the rosters with a little imagination.

`~`~`~`~`

No rider ever acquired too much in the way of goods. The communal living did not lend itself to being covetous, but it still took Moreta the better part of an afternoon to secure her clothing, her healing kits, the few items she had received as gifts over the years and such. D'say's son by her had already been dutifully brought around by his foster mother for a farewell.

Now, D'say stood in the door, watching her secure the last of the bags to Orlith's harness.

"Fort's lucky, Moreta," he said once she had everything secured. She turned to him. The idea of asking him to transfer had never passed her mind, and he was not the kind to offer. Their arrangement had grown from chance mating flights and lasted because it was comfortable. There were never any words of being weyrmates beyond the convenience.

"Keep flying safe, D'say." She looked down to the ledge where Kritith waited. "Keep him safe!"

"Of course," D'say said, before his eyes unfocused, and his smile softened a little. "Kritith says he will."

"I know it. Orlith..." Her queen just moved down to the ledge, waited for Moreta to mount with a quick twine of her neck to her mate's, then launched as soon as Moreta was secure. There was no need for farewell beyond that, not when duty called.

`~`~`~`~`

"You're not meeting everyone at their best, but then you know some of us, don't you, dear?" Leri smiled at the new weyrwoman as they both settled for wine in the evening. "Three days, and I'm told you've met them all."

"It's best that I have a rapport with them, before their dragons might be injured," Moreta said after sipping the Benden she had been served, savoring its rich, full body.

"L'mal is happy with that, Moreta. Now, I'm given to understand that your Orlith should be close to rising?" At Moreta's nod, Leri clapped her hands. "That will shake us all from the darker thoughts. A mating flight always does." She took a sly look on her face. "Any ideas on the bronzes yet?"

Moreta shook her head, smiling, knowing she'd love serving with Leri now. "Oh, I leave all that to Orlith."

Leri harrumphed at that, but if it was the way Moreta was willing to go, Leri could respect it. Very forward thinking of a hold-born weyrwoman, and commendable. It just meant Leri would have to be a little more adroit in arranging that the best bronzes were available that day; a woman of Moreta's skills deserved the best, after all.

"Welcome to Fort then, your new home, and Orlith's."

`~`~`~`~`

Moreta stretched languorously as she woke, feeling refreshed and so well-rested, if a little sore in certain muscles. As her leg slid along the the leg of a male body, she had to smile, remembering just why she was so well-rested.

_You are pleased,_ Orlith said, a touch of smugness in her own voice.

_And you're not, my heart?_ Moreta smiled again, thinking of the recollections coming back to her. _Nabeth and B'lerion?_ She listened as her queen let a content rumble echo in the adjacent room of the weyr where her couch and ledge were, echoed by a warm basso rumble nearly as rich in tone.

_Yes._ It was struggle to not laugh, and Moreta had to raise a hand to cover the aborted attempt at it. That made her bed partner move, rolling up sleepily on an elbow to look at her.

"I'll have to be thankful for what Ista gives us from now on," B'lerion told her. She stopped trying to hide her laughter then, seeing that the flight had been kind to her. D'say had always been a solid partner, but sometimes a woman, and dragon, needed a good change to break old habits.

"As you will, bronze rider," she said, voice light and teasing.

"Oh I will, queen rider," he answered her before dipping in to claim a light kiss, one that promised the morning of a Thread-free day was not going to be wasted.


End file.
